Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts IV

[Darth Sidious]

And congrats to my pal Michael's wife, Carrie Preston, for her Emmy for The Good Wife and to the amazing Bob Newhart who finally snagged a statue at age 84.

This.

On the subject of TV, Breaking Bad on Sunday was riveting to watch. A friend suggested they could have ended the show after that episode, and I agree. Except we all know Mr. White still has unfinished business to attend to, which likely means it isn't a good time to be a Neo-Nazi in New Mexico. ...The show where Dean Norris is a bad guy and not buried in the desert with Gomie, Under the Dome, ended a hugely successful run on CBS last night with a lousy episode that tied up no loose ends at all. What would they have done if the show had flopped this summer? I was intrigued by Sleepy Hollow on FOX ...of course, I was by Under the Dome too and by last night I was sorta happy it was over.

And this. +2

 

[WDW1974]

If you haven't seen it, Spirit, @jmcl07 posted a link to a good read on Motley Fool. Nothing that hasn't been said here a thousand times (or more), the interesting part is where it is now being noted from the point of a view of an investor - and frowned upon.

Yes, I saw it. I sorta knew Rick in another lifetime and I respect his thoughts greatly. One of the few who truly gets both the creative and financial sides of the business.

What can I say other than I agree with his take? Disney needs to be spending vast sums of money on actual reasons for people to visit WDW. No one in their right mind believes MM+ is going to drive traffic (it might drive some regulars elsewhere though).

I just wish Iger, Rasulo and Staggs would finish plundering already and move on. In three years time when they're gone, just think ...what kind of mess will be left?

 

[Darth Sidious]

Yes, I saw it. I sorta knew Rick in another lifetime and I respect his thoughts greatly. One of the few who truly gets both the creative and financial sides of the business.

What can I say other than I agree with his take? Disney needs to be spending vast sums of money on actual reasons for people to visit WDW. No one in their right mind believes MM+ is going to drive traffic (it might drive some regulars elsewhere though).

I just wish Iger, Rasulo and Staggs would finish plundering already and move on. In three years time when they're gone, just think ...what kind of mess will be left?

I want my investments to create growth not return my money to invest in other opportunities. I hate dividends at the cost of growth opportunities.

 

[WDW1974]

Would the 2017 opening date be accurate if it starts work this year? Any news on the rumoured Fantasyland 60th upgrade?



Guess there's some concern it won't get a major post-Avengers attendence bump over the 1st one.



Saw the premier, lots of exposition. Hopefully it will be fleshed out better and not too overburdened by too many gimmicks and revisions to the original story.

EDIT: Premier had over 10 million viewers, not bad.

Yes, Monsters will open before anything of substance hits WDW at this point.

They think it will do well, just not as well as first thought and it (like every film from the company these days, except Planes) cost a fortune. That's why Iron Man 3 did $1.2 billion plus and yet there won't be an Iron Man 4.

As to Sleepy Hollow, it had a quirky "Halloween season' vibe to it that kept my attention. I know FOX was pleased with the debut.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Yes, Monsters will open before anything of substance hits WDW at this point.

They think it will do well, just not as well as first thought and it (like every film from the company these days, except Planes) cost a fortune. That's why Iron Man 3 did $1.2 billion plus and yet there won't be an Iron Man 4.

As to Sleepy Hollow, it had a quirky "Halloween season' vibe to it that kept my attention. I know FOX was pleased with the debut.

I heard it was good, is it worth watching online?

I'm actually eager to see Thor, as I thought the first was underrated and this one should be even better. To me it seems they are playing into the Game of Thrones craze (though I haven't watched GoT yet).

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Also neglected to mention that Disney is still sticking by its 'late 2015' opening for the Shanghai resort.

A friend who was there recently said that almost nothing has been done, but reminded me that this is China where they build cities in less time.

My remark was this is Disney, which takes three years to build kiddie coasters.

But Lou Mongello told me the mine train would be the best ride Disney has ever built...

 

[djlaosc]

The show where Dean Norris is a bad guy and not buried in the desert with Gomie, Under the Dome, ended a hugely successful run on CBS last night with a lousy episode that tied up no loose ends at all. What would they have done if the show had flopped this summer? I was intrigued by Sleepy Hollow on FOX ...of course, I was by Under the Dome too and by last night I was sorta happy it was over.

Just watched episode 5 of Under the Dome over here last night - it's currently the top show on it's channel over here as well, I think.

Sleepy Hollow seems to have done really well last night (although whether that is due to a lack of new TV, or whether the show itself was any good remains to be seen when more competition arrives starting next week.)

As for the new shows from the 2013-2014 season that have been picked up over here so far, we have...
Betrayal (starts Autumn)
Dracula (October)
Hostages (2014)
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (27 September)
Masters of Sex (October)
Mom (2014)
Sleepy Hollow (9 October)
The 100 (2014)
The Blacklist (4 October)
The Millers (14 October)
The Originals (2013)
The Tomorrow People (2014)
We Are Men (2013)

 

[djlaosc]

As to Sleepy Hollow, it had a quirky "Halloween season' vibe to it that kept my attention. I know FOX was pleased with the debut.

...although reading the phrase "best fall FOX drama premiere since K-Ville" means that they still need to take a wait and see approach, and hope it can keep doing as well as it did last night...

 

[janoimagine]

As to Sleepy Hollow, it had a quirky "Halloween season' vibe to it that kept my attention. I know FOX was pleased with the debut.

I have a fear of getting into new sitcoms on Fox ... they wind up getting cancelled after one season ... I really liked Alcatraz and it got the axe. Although the tribute J.J. Abrams put in 'Into Darkness' for its demise was brilliant.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What can I say other than I agree with his take? Disney needs to be spending vast sums of money on actual reasons for people to visit WDW. No one in their right mind believes MM+ is going to drive traffic (it might drive some regulars elsewhere though).

The NYC country clubbers used to be able to hire a "disabled" person and get unlimited FastPasses all day long.

Now they are going to have to book their FastPass+ "experiences" 60 days in advance.

Yeah, they'll be flocking to WDW for FP+.

 

[GoofGoof]

Yes. And I have not heard that date.

But even if that is what they are trying to do, which I see no way they'll achieve but, that only means that MM+ will be available for their resort guests across the board. It still doesn't mean the end of FP or bands for all.

I agree. There is no way they could just turn this thing live Nov 1 and scrap the regular FP system without communicating something by now. There are no test scheduled after 10/31 which is one of the reasons people are speculating it will go live 11/1. I think it will probably be something more like a "soft open" November 1st for all resort guests with the regular system still in place as well. That may continue until the end of the year or longer before everyone gets switched over. I think there may be a push to meet the target of full roll-out this year and they may want to be able to say it "went live" on the earnings call the first week in November.

 

[wdwfan4ver]

Yes. And I have not heard that date.

But even if that is what they are trying to do, which I see no way they'll achieve but, that only means that MM+ will be available for their resort guests across the board. It still doesn't mean the end of FP or bands for all.

I do have a little bit of info on MM+ plus for you.

I came back from WDW a couple days after Labor Day and Cast Members were asking people questions in terms of surveys while I was at WDW. The Survey was on MM+. A Cast member approached my younger brother and I and asked a couple questions in terms of a survey on Labor Day weekend. The questions were about the applications on smart phones for MM+ and if we have bands. I think the cast member didn't like the response though since the hotel we stayed at doesn't have bands yet and we don't own smart phones.

I also know a couple that stayed at WDW at the same time as I did and they were asked in multiple parks about MM+.

I don't know if Disney still asking cast members asking quests doing questions for answer their surveys concerning MM+.

 

[Captain Chaos]

But Lou Mongello told me the mine train would be the best ride Disney has ever built...

He also said, with force mind you, that it would be an E ticket and add to the WDW mountain range... Funny, I see a D ticket in a hill... No mountain..

 

[Witchy Chick]

I disagree, not possible even with some *serious* theme park zig-zagging. Consider this.
We walked into the Mk at 9:15 with a fp+ for Peter Pan between 9-10. Between 10-11, a fp+ for BTM. Between 11-12, a fp+ for splash mtn. Space mtn was 12-1. I can't imagine anyone pulling the above off with regular fast passes, so tightly packed like I had them. Not possible....and if it were close, you would have to do it with *serious* zigzagging. I had all of these before I woke up that morning. We circumnavigated the park in a very foot-friendly, leisurely pace, filling the time in-between fast passes, with other attractions...not racing from kiosk to kiosk.

This was during a FP+ test? I highly doubt that in the real world of FP+ high demand attractions such as PPF, Splash, Space, and BTM will all be available within a four-hour window. More likely, one will see Space "reservation" for 9:30, Country Bears for noon, Tea Cups for 2pm, and TTA for 5pm.

Consider this: my 9/13 arrival in MK was ~9:20am. I headed to Tomorrowland and FP'd Space. Space had ~10 min standby so I walked on. Then did Buzz (twice) and TTA before cashing in my Space FP. Then did Teacups (walkon). Picked FP for PPF, headed to HM (standby twice). Headed to Splash, picked up FP, rode standby (20 min wait). Rode BTMRR (10 min standby). Headed back to PPF to cash in FP. Haunted Mansion again. Lunch. Headed to Splash to cash in FP. Pirates. Citrus Swirl to eat on the way out of the park.

Total time in the park: ~ 5 hours.
Total FPs used: 4
Total attractions (including repeats): 14

While I did some backtracking, it was not from one end of the park to the other. I kinda backtracked mostly at the "top" of the park (Frontier/Liberty Square/Fantasyland).

 

[stevehousse]

I guess I should have clarified by what I meant when I said MB going "live"...

I was pertaining to onsite guests only who are staying on property. I understand that it would be impossible to roll out everything at once and Iger has stated it would roll out in phases. I was inquiring about guests saying onsite because every single resort now for the month of Oct is able to use MB.

Also I have noticed that they seem To be sticking with a 1 month instead of 60 days for MB orders and FP+ selections. Not sure if that is for the test only or if they realized that 60 days out was just too far in advance for something like this???

 

[Alektronic]

Most folks here ignored or yawned when I brought up the decision to offer CMs 40% dining discounts at a wide array of locations as a sign of trouble. I wish old pal Tim were here to tell me how wrong I am.

That's interesting because last month they told CM's that there would block-out dates of all cast dining discounts, no 20% discounts, no holiday coupon use for dining, everything would be blocked out in the last part of August and the whole month of September because of the expected guest use of the dining and dining plans. Then after a week goes by in September and the block-outs were lifted and were given more discounts than before.

 

[Captain Neo]

Yes, Monsters will open before anything of substance hits WDW at this point.

They think it will do well, just not as well as first thought and it (like every film from the company these days, except Planes) cost a fortune. That's why Iron Man 3 did $1.2 billion plus and yet there won't be an Iron Man 4.

As to Sleepy Hollow, it had a quirky "Halloween season' vibe to it that kept my attention. I know FOX was pleased with the debut.

that's not the reason they aren't doing an Iron Man 4. It has more to do with the fact RDJ is expensive and they already have him locked in for 2 more Avengers movie and they want to give that franchise a break to focus on other properties. To me this was understood but Kevin Feige even said as much. There will be more Iron Man movies with a new actor eventually but right now Iron Man will be in the Avengers and they will continue to focus on bringing more characters to the big screen like Guardians of the Galaxy, Big Hero 6, and Ant-Man.

 

[tirian]

I just wish Iger, Rasulo and Staggs would finish plundering already and move on. In three years time when they're gone, just think ...what kind of mess will be left?

Disney c.1978, but without EPCOT Center waiting in the wings. It'll be a company thriving on a previous generation's creativity.

 

[Magenta Panther]

It's an environment that rewards yes-men and number-crunchers, not creativity. Yet, at its core, TWDC is a company built on creativity. It's what Disney sells. In recent years, Disney has had high profile creative failures. Consequently, corporate Disney's creativity has devolved into buying someone else's.

And this, THIS, is what has hurt Disney the most in terms of company image and the Disney legacy. And it es me off bigtime (mercy, does it show?)

 

[Magenta Panther]

TWDC has been living off the idealized reputation of a man dead for almost half-a-century. Public persona aside, Walt Disney was no saint, not by a long shot.

But he wasn't a -------- either, by a much longer shot. He was a good (and faithful) husband, a good father, and treated his employees better than most studio heads of his time. His vices were minor - smoking, profanity (but never in front of women or children) - that kind of thing. It's a little disingenuous to say Walt wasn't a saint "by a long shot" - because then people will assume the worst. People always do.